Afghan suicide bomber kills senior Army leader, 2 majors

Updated at 5:03 a.m. ET: A senior Army leader was among three servicemen killed by a suicide bomber in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, a senior U.S. military official told NBC News.

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Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Griffin earned a Bronze Star.

The victims included Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, the most senior enlisted soldier for the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Griffin, 45, of Riverton, Wyo., was a Bronze Star recipient who first enlisted in the Army in 1988.

Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, 35, of West Point, N.Y., and Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray, 38, of Conyers, Ga., were also killed.

(Citing a military official, NBC News earlier reported that Brigade Commander Col. James J. Mingus was badly wounded in the attack. However, an ISAF official said early Friday said that Mingus had not been injured.)

While their names may be not be well known, U.S. officials consider this a significant attack because the brigade leadership was taken out by a suicide bomber.

The soldiers were all assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division based in Colorado Springs, Colo.